Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“If you want her number, I can give it to you,” Lindsey said.
I considered the offer. Way back when I thought I would never see her again, I would have jumped at the opportunity to learn Tammy’s number. I had been over and over that drive in my mind, replaying everything that had been said. Should I have let it go? Was she really just looking for a one-and-done, or would she have been receptive to more? If I had asked for her phone number, would she have given it to me? Or would she have politely reminded me that I had signed up to be merely a way to forget an ex-boyfriend?
Now that I knew where she worked, it seemed less urgent. I still wanted her number. I wanted to take her out for a real dinner, somewhere outside of Singer’s Ridge. I wanted to bring her home to an apartment that I had signed a lease on, somewhere far from the lumberyard. I wanted to take her to the movies, or to a football game, or whatever kind of entertainment she was into. And I wanted to spend long hours alone with her in the dark, licking every inch of her skin.
“I better not,” I decided. “I don’t want to seem creepy, like I got her phone number without asking her.”
“Good point,” Lindsey said, combing out another section of my hair. She worked and chatted, not about Tammy, but I got the feeling she was mining information for Tammy. Did I like my job? How long had I worked there? Was I planning to move on?
“The job is good,” I said. “I don’t mind the job. I’ve been working there on and off ever since I was in high school. It’s really just the living situation that bothers me.”
“What living situation is that?” She pulled a lock of hair straight up in the air and snipped it.
“I see too much of my parents,” I admitted.
“I wish I had that problem,” she responded, combing out the rest of my head.
I felt like an idiot, even if she didn’t mean to make me feel bad. Here I was trying to get out from under my mom, not realizing how lucky I was to have her in my life. Lindsey didn’t have to elaborate. Tammy had said much the same thing, that she missed her own parents. Without prying, I could only assume they had passed away. I really was ungrateful, and I resolved to do a better job putting up with my mom’s bullshit the next time I saw her. I winced. There had to be some kind of happy medium between too much parental interference and none.
“What was that face?” Lindsey asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “I gather your parents aren’t with us?”
Lindsey shook her head.
“I’ll try to remember that the next time my mom sticks her nose in my business,” I joked.
Lindsey smiled. “I’m sure she tries your patience.”
“She does,” I agreed. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Well.” Lindsey leaned away from the uncomfortable topic by spinning me in my chair so I could evaluate her work.
It looked good. I thanked Lindsey and waited for her to remove the bib and brush my shoulders off before I stood and went to the reception desk. Tammy looked up from her computer, her smile warming my soul.
“It looks good,” she said.
“Thanks,” I responded. “Your boss knows her stuff.”
Tammy lowered her voice to whisper. “She’s a pretty good boss too, so far.”
I leaned forward conspiratorially. “Let me know if that changes.”
“I will,” she promised. “That’ll be fourteen dollars.”
I added a six-dollar tip and gave Tammy a twenty. “Keep the change.”
She smiled and fit the cash into her till drawer. She looked up at me, seeming to expect something more. Was she waiting for a handshake or for a kiss? Did she expect me to ask her out again or to say something witty? We hung there for a moment, locked into each other’s eyes, hesitating on the brink of something more.
“Well, thank you,” I said, cutting the tension with the most mundane phrase I could think of.
“See you around,” she said. It was almost exactly the same conversation we had when I dropped her off at her cousin’s place.
I stepped outside and went to my truck. I got all the way to the driver’s seat, with my key in the ignition, before courage and logic won out. So what if she had said that she was only interested in one night? We had fun together. She was beautiful, smart, and funny, and I wanted to see her again. The worst thing she could possibly do was say no, and I could live with that. At least I wouldn’t be kicking myself over and over about not asking her like I had been for the past two weeks. If we were both sticking around in this town for the foreseeable future, then all I can do is try and keep trying.